Into the Limelight
by ucsbdad
Summary: Just a little AU Caskett fluff inspired by the promos for Episode 12 of Season Six. Now COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

Into the Limelight

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Truthfully, I do not own Castle. Rating: K+ Time: Episode 6-12

**Author's Note: Just something I thought up from the promos for 6-12. Definitely AU.**

Kate Beckett was unhappy, and when Kate Beckett was unhappy, Richard Castle was unhappy.

"Kate, I'm sorry. I just don't see what I could do about it."

Kate ignored him and kept pacing back and forth across the living room of the loft. "What's the matter with these people? Has world peace suddenly broken out? Has hunger and disease disappeared? Are all the politicians in DC cooperating? Isn't there anything going on in the world more important than whether Richard Castle is getting back together with one of his ex-wives?"

"It has been kind of slow, news-wise, Kate. It'll all blow over. Soon. I'm sure."

"Meanwhile I have to walk down the street with you with some moron with a camera asking you whether it's Meredith or Gina you're marrying."

"It's you, honey. I'm marrying you. I love you."

Rick sounded so unhappy that Kate broke off from her tirade. "I know, Rick. I love you too." Then something occurred to her. "But Meredith! I could kill her! How could she talk like that?"

Rick shrugged. "Meredith loves the limelight. Put her in front of a camera and she'll talk forever."

"Oh, she talked, all right!" Kate snapped. "About how happy you two were. How she loves you and Alexis still. She hardly knows Alexis! And then she had to tell everyone what great sex you two had together. Even after the divorce."

"Kate, sex with you is far better. No comparison. Ten Merediths, a hundred Merediths couldn't compare. And at least Gina didn't say much."

"Oh, no. All Gina could manage was, "No Comment." Couldn't she have just said that you weren't getting married?"

"Gina probably thought that was enough." Kate stopped in front of Rick and Rick put his arms around her. "Kate, I know you're a very private person. You don't like being the center of attention, but as my wife, that'll come with the territory. But I promise you that I'll do my best to keep you away from the press, the photographers, the paparazzi and everything else. I promise."

Kate rested her head under Rick's chin. "I know you will. And I appreciate it. But people think of me as the real Nikki Heat. That can be hard to live up to, as I've found. You've been in the public eye for all of your adult life. You enjoy it, and you're good at it. I just freeze up and grunt my replies."

"You do not. You're just terse."

"Terse?" Kate giggled. "That's one word for it."

"I remember the first time I was in the public eye, as you put it. I was fifteen and mom took me as her "date" to a Hollywood premiere of a movie she was in. I was terrified. Luckily, no one paid the slightest attention to me."

"I doubt that." She teased.

Since Kate had calmed down, Rick decided he'd risk telling her something.

"Paula called me about this. She's booked me tomorrow night on WHNY, the Kristina Coterra show."

"What!" Kate yelled. "That bimbo who tried to shove her boobs down your throat right here! What was Paula thinking? How could she…"

"She doesn't know about us. No one but family and close friends do. She thought it would be good publicity to let everyone know that Rick Castle is still single. And I am, until September, that is."

Kate took a step back from Rick. "If she touches you, I'll rip her arms off. If she asks you out, you are not available. Ever! You will not…" Kate stopped, stepped back into Rick's arms and put her head on his chest. "I'm acting like I don't trust you and I do. Sorry. It's just that…"

"You've been madly in love with me since the first day we met."

"Dream on, Castle."

Rick kissed the top of her head. "And I won't mention a word about us. I'll keep us a secret until the last possible moment."

In the bullpen the next day, Kate became aware that Esposito and Ryan had been whispering together for several minutes.

"What is it?" She asked testily.

"What?" Espo said as innocently as he could.

"What don't you want me to hear?"

Ryan smiled. "Busted again. I told you she'd catch us."

"Um. Beckett?' Esposito began. "Are you aware that Castle is going on the Kristina Coterra show tonight? The same Kristina Coterra that basically attacked him when you two were together, but didn't want anyone…"

"I know. And we agreed that he should go out with her." She lied. "So that people wouldn't think we were together. He just hadn't planned on her showing up at his place and…"

"Jumping him." Ryan finished for her.

"Yeah. But Castle isn't going to do anything. Tonight is just a chance to set the record straight. He's single and not marrying an ex-wife. He just won't mention he's marrying me in September. It's nothing. No one really cares about it anyway."

"You haven't seen the poll on Channel Six?" Ryan asked.

"The poll? On another channel?"

Espo turned the volume up on the TV in the bullpen just enough for them to hear. A young man in a suit and tie was on the air. "Which one should he marry? Meredith, no question. She's smokin' hot, and she's an actress. Can't beat that." The scene changed to a young girl, just in her teens. "Well, if he won't marry me, he should marry that Tina, the blonde. She is so sophisticated. And cool." They went back to an announcer. "And so the Castle Channel Six marriage poll now stands at Meredith, 67 percent, and Gina, 33 percent. Be sure to vote online at…"

Espo turned the sound off.

"I'm not in the poll?" Kate fumed. "I'm his muse, the inspiration for Nikki Heat. I'm in that damned video clip. I'm walking right beside him."

Epso and Ryan struggled not to laugh.

"Look, you two just forget about this. Castle will set the record straight on this tonight and it will all be over. Now what about the financials I asked for? Did you expect to find it on Channel Six?"

While feigning disinterest in the whole subject, Kate did get video feeds of the news from the local TV stations on her computer. What she saw did not make her happy. Every major news station in the city seemed to be in on the "which ex-wife will Castle marry" marathon. Even the Spanish and Chinese language stations seemed to be in on the act.

What really angered her was a commercial by Kristina Coterra for her program that night. Coterra, in a low cut top smiled sultrily at the camera. "Tonight I will find out from Richard Castle himself which ex-wife he'll marry. And," she practically leered at the camera, "if he won't answer, perhaps I can offer myself as an alternative. See you at nine."

Within half an hour the Channel Six poll had Kristina and Meredith running neck and neck with Gina a distant third.

Kate checked her watch. Almost three o'clock. She grabbed her coat and headed for the door.

"Beckett? Where are you going?"

"Out." She snapped.

"What are Ryan and I supposed to say if Gates asks where you are?"

"Tell her I'm preventing a murder." And she was gone.

At eight o'clock, Kate pulled her car up in front of the WHNY studios. She hoped Castle hadn't gone in yet. Then she saw him getting out of a cab, just down the street. She jumped out of her car and ran towards him.

"Hi." She said.

"Kate, what are you doing here?" Castle noticed that she had on more that the bare minimum of makeup that she usually wore and he could see that she had a dress on under her coat rather than her usual pants.

"I've come to be on the Kristina Coterra show with you." She said, very determinedly.

"I thought you hated being in the media?"

Kate took a deep breath. "I do, but I hate people trying to pair you up with someone else worse. Especially I hate Kristina Coterra trying to grab you. When I was dressing I saw her latest ad for tonight. She practically promised to seduce you on camera. You're mine and I want everyone to know it." She took his arm. "Shall we go in?"

"You're sure about this? Really sure?"

"As sure as I am that I want to marry you. Besides, it'll be no secret in another few months. What difference will it make if everyone finds out now?"

Rick smiled at the love of his life. "Let's go surprise Kristina."

"Oh, I'm going to love this surprise."

The two walked through the station and got to the broadcasting studio. Rick saw Kristina talking to one of her producers and waved to her. Kristina immediately walked over to Rick. "Rick how good to see you again." She leaned in and kissed Rick's cheek, completely ignoring Kate.

"You remember Detective Beckett, don't you? From the time at my loft?"

Kristina did not remember Detective Beckett fondly and only nodded in her direction.

"I've been Shadowing Beckett for years now, researching for Nikki Heat."

"How nice." Kristina said coldly.

"Anyway, since all of this uproar about my upcoming marriage, I thought I'd introduce my fiancé on your show."

Kristina looked around. "Wonderful. Where is she? I don't see either of your exes."

"Ahem." Rick held up Kate's left hand so that the engagement ring was clearly visible. "Meet my fiancé, Kate Beckett."

Kristian panicked as she saw her whole carefully prepared program, involving herself, Castle's two ex-wives and no Detective Beckett going down in flames.

"Just think," Rick said happily, "I'm marrying my muse, the real life inspiration for Nikki Heat and you get to scoop all of your competition.'

"All of my competition?" Kristina suddenly felt much better about this turn of events. "Excuse me, you two should get into makeup. I need to talk to my staff. See you later, Rick."

Kate watched Kristina's retreating figure. "That wasn't as much fun as I had expected."

Promptly at nine o'clock the camera focused on Kristina Coterra. "Good evening, New York. Do I have news for you! Tonight we not only have world famous author Rick Castle, who as you will know has been the subject of much speculation about his marital plans," the camera's view widened to include Rick, "but we have his lovely fiancé, Detective Kate Beckett of the New York Police Department. As all Castle fans will know, she is the real life inspiration for Detective Nikki Heat. Please tell us, Kate, how did you meet Rick?"

Kate stared at the camera for a second, fortunately smiling broadly, then spoke. "It was after the murder of a young lady, Allison Tisdale." Kate proceeded to tell the story of the Tisdale murder in a manner that was grim, gritty, occasionally funny and which gave Rick a far easier time than he might have expected from Kate.

Suddenly the program was over and Kate found herself and Rick saying goodbye to Kristina. "Rick, I always thought you were a great guest to have on, but I may replace you with Kate in the future. She's golden. A star. No wonder you're marrying her."

Kate left the station happy that it was over and happy that she had done well, apparently.

When they walked into the station the next day, Kate saw Captain Gates standing outside her office with a frown on her face and her hands on her hips. "Detective Beckett! Mr. Castle! My office, now!"

Kate closed the door behind her as she walked into Gates's office. "Sir, I know that I should have cleared my appearance with the department public relations officer, but…"

"But you didn't. However, that's not why I called you in here. The Chief was watching last night. Apparently a large number of high ranking officers watched as well.

Kate's heart sank. "Sir, I apologize…"

"They loved you." Gates said briskly. "They thought you were the best PR this department has had since the Nikki Heat books. Apparently the public thinks the same. The department has had requests for you two to appear on just about every TV station in the city and a few elsewhere, in addition to print and radio requests. I understand some of the major network's late night talk shows want you two on as well."

"I'm afraid this was a one shot deal, sir. I'm a detective not some sort of walking advertisement for the department."

"That's what you think. You now report to the department PR officer, Captain McElroy. He's got you two scheduled on Midnight in Manhattan for tonight. He'll brief you on your further assignments. Now, you two head for One Police Plaza."

Rick and Kate stood rooted to the spot.

"Go now!" Gates added.

As they headed for the elevator, Kate took Rick's hand. "What have I done?"


	2. Chapter 2

Anti-Social Media

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Yes, I own no Castle. Rating: K+ Time: After Episode 6-12.

"I'm working for some captain in NYPD public relations, Castle?" Beckett was looking to Castle for help he couldn't give her. "I'm a homicide detective. I'm the best damned homicide detective in this city, not some happy go lucky pretty face."

"No, you're right. That's my job."

Kate glared at her lover. "Not funny, Castle. Now how do I get out of this?"

"You can't. Go with the flow."

"Like hell." Kate switched lanes, cutting in front of a bus and nearly rear ending a taxi.

"Go with the flow, Kate!" Rick yelled, bracing for a crash that didn't come.

"What's wrong, Rick? I'll get us to One Police Plaza, don't worry."

"I'm worried that we'll have to be towed there. Could you slow down a bit?"

Kate hit the siren and lights to coast through a red light by way of a response.

"Look, honey, I know you're angry about this assignment. But it's just your fifteen minutes of fame. In no time at all, it'll all be in the past. Just relax. It'll make it a lot easier on both of us. I'll be right with you the whole time, remember?"

"All right. You're right. I've had assignments I've hated before and I survived." Kate grinned. "In fact there was this writer once. Now he was a pain in the ass if there ever was one."

"Anyone I know?" Rick asked calmly.

"Not at all. He was a completely different person from you."

Kate pulled into the parking garage for One Police Plaza. "Here we are. Safe and sound."

"Thank god." Rick said under his breath.

In minutes they were in the office of Captain Paul McElroy, the NYPD's public relations officer. "Detective Beckett! Mr. Castle. So good to see you two. You have been solid gold for the department's public image. You won't believe the positive results we're getting in the media and on-line." McElroy waved at a computer on his desk.

Castle glanced at the computer. It was on a social media site. He read an entry. "I'd love to have that Beckett, her handcuffs and a gallon of honey to…What the hell is this? That's my fiancé he's talking about!"

McElroy tried to quiet Castle down. "Easy, Mr. Castle. We always get a few of those. Most of the postings have been more positive."

Kate read another one. "I want to be just like detective Beckett when I grow up. Or a princess."

Castle grinned. "That little girl should know she can be both. Beckett is a detective and a princess."

"Look at this one?" McElroy enthused.

Kate read the next post out loud.

"I was truly excited and awed to watch Detective Beckett and Mr. Castle last night. They are very intelligent, caring, committed and dedicated. They make me so very proud of the New York Police Department and thrilled that people of that caliber are protecting us. And they are the cutest couple ever."

Rick noticed the signature. "It's signed by someone named Alexis."

Kate giggled, but McElroy was distracted by a newcomer to his office.

"Detective Beckett, Mr. Castle, this is Ms. Carolyn Conway. She's got a contract to help the department with PR."

Ms. Conway was tall and slender, probably an ex-model, Rick thought. She appeared to be in her early forties or so, but was a very striking woman.

Something had caught Kate's eye on the computer. "Of the three chicks, why did he pick the…flat chested one?" The last three words were loud, very loud.

"Flat chested? Not a bit! Kate, you have beautiful…." Rick suddenly noticed there were strangers present. "That is, you're gorgeous and have a great body. Really great."

"If it bothers you, we can work on that." Ms. Conway said with a smile.

"I'm perfectly happy with my body." Kate said through gritted teeth.

"Me. Too." Rick added. "I'm marrying that body. I mean I'm marrying the woman who has that body. I'm marrying Kate. Her, the one with the body." Rick sensibly stopped.

Ms. Conway walked over to Kate and looked closely at her. Her expression indicated she was not pleased with what she saw. "What _are_ you wearing?" She asked disdainfully.

Kate looked at her clothing. Blue jeans, heels, a red turtleneck sweater and a black leather jacket. "It's what I wear as a detective. It's practical."

"It makes you look like a truck driver." Ms. Conway coldly.

"Carolyn," Captain McElroy broke in, "perhaps Detective Beckett knows her clothing needs best."

Conway turned around and stared at McElroy. "Do you remember the last time you disregarded my advice?"

McElroy blushed and looked at the floor. "Um, yes. I do." He said quietly.

"And the result was _Psycho Cop,_ wasn't' it?"

"_Psycho Cop_?" Castle asked, curious.

"A movie made with the assistance of the NYPD." Kate replied with a slight smile. "It featured a serial killer cop who chased down and killed young women who apparently ran around New York in their underwear. They jiggled a lot."

"They misrepresented their film entirely!" McElroy bleated.

Conway ignored him and examined Kate. "What you wore last night was…acceptable. The watch has to go, too clunky. Do you have any nice jewelry? Any at all?"

Kate glared at Conway, who didn't appear to notice. Kate carefully pulled the chain around her neck out, removed her engagement ring and put it on. "Nice enough?" She snapped.

"Acceptable." Conway replied. "Luckily, I know some people in the business, we can get you some decent clothing for your TV interviews. I also know where we can rent some quality jewelry." She turned to McElroy. "Be a dear and arrange a car and driver for us."

"We'll be going to Cartier's." Castle said quickly.

Conway turned to Rick. "Cartier's? That's hardly in the police department's budget."

"But it is in my budget. We're going to Cartier's to shop for some jewelry for my fiancé."

McElroy busied himself with ordering a car while Conway left to redo her makeup. Kate pulled Rick into a corner.

"Castle! You are not going to do this!"

"What?"

"Buy me jewelry that I'll never wear again just so you can show off. I am not marrying you for your money and this is the sort of thing that makes people think that I am marrying you for your money. I won't stand for it."

Rick put his arms around Kate. "Do you remember when we first met? When I told you why you were a cop? That you had lost someone?"

Kate nodded, unsure where the conversation was going.

"That day I saw the pain in your eyes. So much pain I just wanted to hold you and make everything all right for you. I still want to do that. To hold you and make everything better."

Kate smiled. "You just wanted to get your hands on me so you could get me into bed."

"I admit I've always been sexually attracted to you, Kate. But even then we were about more than sex."

"There was no "us" back then." She was still smiling up at him.

"But there is now, and I still want to do everything for you. Among other things, I want you to have beautiful things around you. Beautiful things to wear. And you will wear them after the TV interviews. You'll be my wife. We'll go out together, to restaurants, movies, plays, book release parties, all kinds of things. Let me do this for you, Kate. Please?"

"Rick…People will think…"

"People who think that you married me for my money will think that no matter what. Anyone who knows us will know how long and how hard I fought to get you. And how resistant you were."

"I didn't mean to fight you so hard, Rick." She nodded. "We'll go get some jewelry."

Castle swept into the Cartier store on Fifth Avenue with a plan in mind. He hadn't exactly been planning to shower Kate with jewelry, but he had kept his eye out for anything so that if the opportunity arose, he'd be ready. He was ready.

He stode up to a salesman. "The diamond bracelet in the window, does it have matching earrings?"

The salesman smiled. This would be a good day, he was sure. "It certainly does, sir. May I show the items to you?"

"Definitely."

Kate's eyebrows shot up when she saw the prices. "Castle! This is too much." She whispered.

He smiled at her. "Kate, I do know jewelry, courtesy of some other women who I won't mention. Just trust me, okay?"

Kate put the jewelry on. She looked in the mirror and Castle looked at her intently. "Excellent." He said. "That's a good start. May we see that pearl necklace now?"

Kate stared at him. "More?" She mouthed.

"You can't wear the same jewelry all the time."

"Why not?" Kate asked.

Rick didn't reply but put the pearl necklace around her neck. "Perfect. I've always loved pearls. They're softer than gems."

"Castle, I think…" Kate began.

"Something in emeralds? Kate has always looked good in green. And red for that matter. Something with rubies?"

$121,000 later they left the store. Kate was in shock, Rick was pleased and even Conway was impressed.

"Every woman needs a little black dress. I know a place that has the finest Dior's." Rick announced.

"Driver, continue up Fifth Avenue, please."

"Rick, "Kate whispered, "I have a little black dress."

"You mean the one you wore when you saved me from that Russian gangster? That's entirely too little a little black dress."

Castle walked into a small, discrete shop with Kate and Conway and was immediately approached by a tall, graceful saleswoman. She stared at Rick, then smiled. "Mr. Castle? Is that you?"

He smiled back. "Magda. You still work here?"

"I'm the manager now. It's good to see you. How can we help you today?"

Rick put his arm around Kate. "This is my fiancé, Kate Beckett. She needs some clothes. She needs everything."

"I do not need everything!" Kate whispered sharply.

Magda looked Kate over, nodding her head. "Your fiancé is perfect. Are you a model, Ms. Beckett?" 

Kate shook her head quickly. "Not at all. I'm a police officer."

Magda looked surprised. "With your height and your figure you could be a model very easily. We should have no trouble finding plenty of nice things for you." She turned around and called over two more saleswomen.

"She needs a little black dress." Rick said.

"Of course she does." Magda replied.

When Magda and the other saleswomen went about their work, Kate Whispered to Rick. "Did you and Magda ever….get together?"

"You mean have we slept together? No. I may be a bit kinky, but I only buy women's clothing for my wives or fiancés." He leaned in and kissed her gently. "And I never cheat when I'm in a relationship."

By the time the three left, the trunk of the unmarked police car they had was full and Ms. Conway in the back seat was nearly covered with packages.

As Kate started the car, she tried to glare at Castle, but couldn't quite manage it. "You bought way too much. And it was way too expensive."

"I've been wanting to do these things for you for over six years, Kate. If you hadn't been so stubborn, my generosity wouldn't have come out all at once."

"So this is my fault?"

"How could it be mine?"

Kate looked in the rear view mirror and saw Ms. Conway was listening. "We'll talk later."

McElroy was impressed with their purchases when they got back to One Police Plaza. "You two should go home and change now. Ms. Conway will pick you up at eight o'clock for the Midnight in Manhattan program."

Castle thought of something. "Um, isn't the host, Charles Timmerman, known to be, um, kid of hard on his guests?"

McElroy gave Castle a phony smile. "Why that should be no problem for a homicide detective and you."

"It shouldn't?" Castle said glumly.


	3. Chapter 3

Kate in the Limelight

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I started off with no Castle, and I have most of it left. Rating: K+ Time: AU Ep 6-12

Kate and Rick got out of the unmarked police car, thanked their driver and walked arm in arm towards the TV studio where they were to be on Charles Timmerman's show, Midnight in Manhattan. As they walked towards the studio, a dark shadow detached itself from the building and headed towards them.

"Castle!"

Rick looked towards the speaker. "Hey! Hi, Paula. How are you?"

"How am I? How the hell do you think I am? We need to talk. Right _now_!"

"Um, you've met my fiancé, Kate Beckett, right?"

"Now, Castle! Immediately!" She said loudly.

"Anything you want to say to me, you can say to Kate."

Kate put her hand on Rick's arm. "It'll be all right. I can wait in the lobby."

Rick took her hand. "No, we're partners in every sense now. If my agent wants to talk to me, you should know what she has to say. You stay with me. Always."

Kate smiled apologetically at Paula.

Paula took a deep breath. "Fine." She took another deep breath. "Are you totally out of your fucking mind?"

Castle was taken aback. Usually when Paula chewed him out for some transgression of his, she used the "I'm not mad, just terribly, terribly hurt." routine. "Um, yes. Is that a surprise to you?"

Paula glared at him. Not as good as Kate's glare, but a very good glare, none the less. "You two are going on Charles Timmerman's show? Chopper Charlie's show? Really?"

"He rides a Harley?" Castle said weakly.

"NO!" Paula yelled. "He's the grandmaster of ambush journalism. His only reason for having you two on the show is to tear you apart on live TV. Haven't you ever seen his program?"

"Not really." Rick said quietly.

"Ms. Conway said we'd be okay." Kate added.

"Carolyn Conway? That empty headed bimbo? She's a has-been model that never was. She hasn't the brains or the talent to…" Paula stopped and shook her head. "It's too late to pull you out now. If we did, he'd just use it as an excuse to tear you apart without you being able to defend yourselves." She squared her shoulders and looked at Rick and Kate. "I'll walk you in and be ready to pick up the pieces."

All three walked in feeling very worried about the upcoming show.

Carolyn Conway was waiting inside the studio. Castle introduced Conway to Paula. The two women glared at each other. Conway rushed off to talk to the producer of another show on the channel.

"Why didn't you call me before you did this?" Paula said quietly.

"I tried to, but all I got was your voicemail."

"I have a life other than babysitting you, you know." She snapped.

"Sorry."

Paula looked around to make sure they weren't overheard. "Look, he gathers information on everybody. He's probably got tons of stuff on you and God knows it'll be embarrassing enough. He probably doesn't have that much on Kate, but thanks to you, she has been in the spotlight. Whatever you two do, don't lie. Don't even try to put things in the best possible light. Otherwise, he'll really tear you apart. God, I wish this was over."

Castle and Kate silently agreed with her.

"Mr. Castle, Ms. Beckett, are you ready for makeup?" A young intern said.

"We who are about to die salute you." Castle said solemnly to Paula and they followed the intern off.

They went through makeup and got a quick explanation of the studio's set up and how the program operated. Castle said he had been on TV many times and would make sure Kate always looked at the correct camera and whatnot. Then they were led to the set.

The red light on the front of the camera came on, indicating they were live and focused on Charles Timmerman. "Good evening, everyone." Timmerman smiled at the camera. He was an oddly professorial looking man, slender, with a sharp face, hair coming over his ears and over his collar, dressed in a tweed jacket that had seen better days. "Tonight we have as guests Richard Castle the writer and his fiancé, Kate Beckett of the New York Police." He turned to Kate. "Ms. Beckett, you seem to be doing well out of your association with Castle."

Although taken aback, Kate was expecting an attack first thing. She smiled at Timmerman. "Well, I am getting a wonderful husband from our association, so I suppose that's correct."

Timmerman went on. "I mean financially. As the inspiration for Nikki Heat, you stand to gain a great deal of money from your marriage."

"Well, I am aware that my husband is wealthy, but as the inspiration for Nikki Heat, I get no more financial gain that any other actual person who is the inspiration for a fictional character. In other words, I get nothing for being, as people call me, the real Nikki Heat. After all, Nikki isn't real."

"Do you expect me to believe that some arrangement wasn't made between you and Castle when he began his liaison with you?"

"I certainly do. Such an arrangement would be illegal for a police officer such as myself. Certainly you don't believe that with all the lawyers the NYPD has that I wouldn't have been caught in all these years."

"Well, you are marrying him."

Kate shrugged. "So I am. But I should point out, we didn't start dating until we'd known each other for over four years and we didn't get engaged for about another year. And of course we haven't married yet. If I was marrying Rick for his money, I certainly went about it very slowly, wouldn't you say?"

Timmerman ignored her question. "About Castle and the NYPD. Do you really expect us to believe that Castle has actually been in all the dangerous situations that have appeared in the press? Aren't they just public relations puffery to boost his book sales? "

Kate smiled broadly at Timmerman. "My! Are you accusing the New York media, print and electronic, of engaging in some sort of a conspiracy to promote Rick's books? That's quite a charge. Why, that would even include the news department of your own station. Do you have proof of your accusation? If so, I think you owe it to the citizens of New York to tell us about it right now."

Timmerman was rattled. "Of course not. I may have misspoken. Some part of the press can exaggerate, puff up the news, you know."

Kate shook her head. "No, I really don't know. Can you give me an example?" She said sweetly.

"Obviously, Castle has showered you with expensive gifts. Your dress, and your jewelry tonight."

Kate nodded. "Well, except for my morning coffee, the first thing he ever bought me was my engagement ring." She showed the ring. "As for the new jewelry and the clothes, he bought those yesterday for my TV appearances. I do suppose one day of gift giving might be considered showering."

Timmerman looked down at his notes. "Isn't it true that you've called Castle an ass?"

"I'm afraid I have called my fiancé some names. But remember, when he first started shadowing me, while he was an accomplished mystery author, he wasn't a police officer. He made mistakes, he intruded where he shouldn't and sometimes went where he shouldn't. I imagine all couples have little fights and call each other names. It doesn't mean we don't love each other." Kate reached over and took Rick's hand.

"Still, I can hardly believe that Castle really places himself in danger." Timmerman said slyly.

Kate shrugged. "Well, he did get shot in a hostage situation no long ago. Fortunately his protective vest stopped the round. Oh, and you may recall he was held hostage in a bank that was being robbed. That was reported on all the news channels as I recall." Kate said sweetly. "You know, there's really no reason for me to go over what Rick has done with the NYPD. With a few exceptions, police records of closed cases are in the public record. Anyone could go and see for themselves. Why, you could have even have reviewed his work with the NYPD, Mr. Timmerman."

Timmerman looked sourly at Kate. "Forgive me if I have trouble believing that such an attractive young lady as yourself actually goes into harm's way."

That did upset Kate. "Oh, I go in harm's way. I got shot at a funeral, remember?"

Timmerman sniffed. "Was it really that bad?"

Kate was losing it. "Have you ever been shot?"

Timmerman smiled. At last his guest was getting angry. This was always when it got good. They got angry and said and did things they'd regret. "No, but I'm not a cop."

"Well, I am a cop. You want to know what it feels like to be shot?" Kate pulled down the top of her black dress to show the scar in the center of her chest. "I was shot in the chest. While I was in the ambulance, my heart stopped. I died with Rick Castle sitting there beside me. I died again in the operating room. I flat-lined! That's what being shot feels like."

"Perhaps we should take some calls now?' Timmerman said. He was sure his usual callers would be ready to tip these two apart. "Albert, from Bayonne. You're on."

'Yeah, I saw that bank hostage thing on TV. Didn't the lady cop go in unarmed and disguised as a paramedic?"

"Yes, I did. We needed to get eyes inside to see what the bank robbers were doing. And Rick was able to pass some information to me about the explosives the bank robbers had."

"Yeah! That's right! I saw you go rushing in to the bank when the bomb went off."

"Rick was inside. We weren't a couple yet, but I did love him."

"Hey, that's sweet."

"Thank you, Albert." Timmerman cut the connection. What was wrong with Albert tonight? Timmerman smiled to himself. Jimmy from the Bronx was next on the phone. Jimmy hated all authority figures. "Jimmy, from the Bronx. What do you have tonight?"

"Kate, you're really cute. Do you have a sister or something?"

"You're sweet, Jimmy, but no, I don't have any female relatives. But I'm sure a sweet guy like you won't have any trouble."

The rest of the phone calls were even worse, from Timmerman's perspective. Only a few of his regulars called and they seemed to be impressed with Kate. The only nasty call they got was from some drunk who was nearly unintelligible. It took Timmerman almost a minute to realize the caller was mad at him, not Castle and the cop. Timmerman savagely cut the caller off.

Sadly for Timmerman, no one seemed to have a bad word to say about either Kate or Rick. At the end of the program, they both thanked Timmerman for having them on his show. He snarled at them and stormed off to scream at one of his producers.

As Kate walked towards Paula and Conway, a thought crashed into her mind. "Oh my GOD! I flashed my boobs on TV!" She wailed.

Paula laughed. "Your bra stayed on. You didn't show any more that any number of starlets on TV these days. And you were wonderful! Nobody has stayed with Chopper Charlie that way. Kate, you were perfect. In fact, I'm going to have you go with Rick on all his future public gigs."

Kate blanched. "Future TV gigs? Sorry, I'm a cop. I don't have the time."

"I'm sure we can talk about this later." Castle said smoothly.

Paula nodded. She was sure Rick would bring Kate around. His fiancé was gold! "Anyway, you two won't have trouble with the rest of the shows you're booked on. New York AM's toughest questions will be, "Kate, how do you keep your hair from getting mussed when you're chasing a criminal?" The rest of the programs will be even easier."

Conway spoke up. "Oh, I got you on All Night Long, with Jimmy Chase. A national TV gig, not just local."

"Jimmy's a comedian, so he won't be nasty to you, although he'll try to ask you out. He always does that to his women guests. It'll be on the air and he'll expect you'll turn him down. It's a running joke on his show. I'll give you some one liners." Paula said.

"Is this ever going to end?" Kate asked Rick.

"Probably." Rick said. "Congressman Toohey was caught his morning with a sixteen year old hooker. The governor's younger brother was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Wars are heating up in Asia and Africa. Congress and the President are fighting over the budget. What had been a slow news week, is now a full news week. We'll be old news by tomorrow, probably."

And so, after a week or so, Rick and Kate went from being the most newsworthy couple in New York to being occasional denizens of Page Six. But Rick loved the screen capture of Kate pulling down the front of her dress to show her scar. Kate made absolutely sure that no one but Rick ever saw it.


End file.
